definitions

spinney

[ spin-ee ]
/ ˈspɪn i /
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noun, plural spin·neys. British.

a small wood or thicket.

RELATED WORDS

thicket, scrub, shrubbery, undergrowth, grove, cover, coppice, hedge, copse, dingle, sedge, underwood, brushwood, fern, gorse, bracken, chaparral, orchard, covert, woodland

Nearby words

spinnaker, spinnbarkeit, spinner, spinneret, spinnery, spinney, spinning, spinning box, spinning frame, spinning jenny, spinning mule

Origin of spinney

1300–50; Middle English < Middle French espinei (masculine), espinaie (feminine) a place full of thorns, derivative of espine spine; compare Late Latin spīnētum difficulty, equivalent to Latin spīn(a) thorn (see spine) + -ētum noun suffix (see arboretum)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

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British Dictionary definitions for spinney

spinney

/ (ˈspɪnɪ) /

noun

mainly British a small wood or copse

Word Origin for spinney

C16: from Old French espinei, from espine thorn, from Latin spīna
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for spinney

spinney

n.

1590s, from Old French espinei (Modern French épinaie) "place full of thorns and brambles," from espine (see spine).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper